Rewatching Enterprise

[Hopeful Romantic]

Aside from the Loque'eque (spell that three times fast) makeup, Extinction featured T'pol's awesome white away-mission jumpsuit.

Plus, that scene where the Archer-alien finds the dead ruins of his civilization was, for me, very poignant and affecting.

 

[sekundant]

Thank you @Roundabout!
I thought about "Identity Crisis" also, but I remember almost a 1:1 story, especially fruits with worms, I assume I saw/read somewhere. Maybe it was a comic, whatsoever I'll watch tomorrow both episodes.
LeVar Burton is one of the my favorite Trek director, although Extinction is an average episode, imho.
T'Pol's white jumpsuit was already at "Marauders" breathtaking.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Extinction was one of those times when Star Trek just vomited a story that had been told and told and told upon itself and yet.. it was well done and it was good.

I felt the same way about Terra Nova though which I know many hated.

 

[Delta Vega]

This is the first time I've actually started to rate "Extinction" as an episode
I think the story of a civilisation so desperate to survive into the future that they engineer an invasive mutogen, to be very clever.
I never gave it that kudos up till now because I couldn't see past the three crew members undergoing the full transformation which I found to be silly (at first)
It's growing on me.

 

[Delta Vega]

"Rajiin"
Watched it tonight, and find this episode to throw up so many questions
Who is she ?
Is she an innocent pawn forced into working for the Xindi, or is she more than she lets on ?
Yes, she's held apparently against her will, but did the Xindi genetically enhance her, or was she just some sort of freak with some very handy "super" powers, who was paid to do a service ?
Rajiin was all sorts of sinister
And why didn't the Xindi just go to town and destroy Enterprise when they boarded it, they seemed to have a complete weapons advantage ?
"Impulse"
Vulcan zombies
T'Pol in paranoid and angry mode
Some good action scenes, and a dilemma at the end re the use of Trellium D
Trip should have been disciplined for taking that second shuttle out to the asteroid field while the fate of the other team was unknown, Archer seemed to take that pretty well.
At one point we had the Captain, Science Officer, Chief Tactical Officer, Helmsman and Chief Engineer off the ship leaving Hoshi, a Comms Officer, in command.

Despite the flaws, two very good episodes.

 

[Reanok]

I really like Impulse and seeing T'Pol being paranoid an angry Delusional Vulcan it's scary to see a Vulcan to loose their emotional due to the trillium d on the vulcan ship.

 

[Delta Vega]

Tonight's fare

"Exile"
Wow ! This episode is all sorts of sinister
A space stalker for Hoshi
Questions have to be asked, ie Why the fuck would Archer agree to one of his crew being left behind with a complete stranger, of undefined morals, not knowing whether they would ever see her again ?
Why would Hoshi be so passive about being left behind by her Captain ?
I know he eventually provided info on the Xindi, but hey, what a fucking weirdo.
"The Shipment"
The beginning of the crew being able to understand the foibles of the Expanse, and the beginnings of the viewer seeing the machinations of the Xindi dynamic between species, other than the scenes in the Counsel.
Bit of a leap of faith to think that Archer would take a Xindi at his word, and another for the Xindi Sloth to take Archer at his word then betray his people.
Interesting episode that was a base for many episodes that came after, in the quest to find the Xindi weapon.

 

[Phoenix219]

Fortunate Son - A decent premise. Another one of those "wild west frontier" type episodes that sets the tone so well for Enterprise. At the beginning I thought they suspected something, and were insisting on staying to investigate, but they were truly just being helpful - the set up in that regard is similar to the aliens in Unexpected. I guess I was just looking for a deeper story or better plan then "revenge" by the Fortunate's XO. The football opening was fun. I like how down to earth and *non star fleet* these freighter crews seem. Both the freighter crew and the Admiral seem a lot more like modern day humans which fits the time period. Cringe, they said Away Team. Another future nod, this time to the Nausicans (TNG). They are trying the Kirk thing with Archer, but he lacks as much charisma and isn't quite as believable a high stakes deal-maker. Mayweather finally got an episode! The space boomer setting and history is developed more and important to the plot. The most interesting part of the episode was the parallels with developing faster technology and frontiers becoming less distant and more developed - it made me think of our own history, with railroads and waystations beginning to develop and connect farther away territories, bringing more people into places that were was once remote and solitary, and all the inevitable changes that the march of progress brings, and how entire lifestyles can be upended permanently - these freighters have history and crews/families going back generations, and have always operated under their own authority, with no boundary lines or governmental oversight, in unclaimed areas of unbounded freedom. I am really liking this pre-Federation, pre-bureaucratic setting. Its the 1800s, Lewis and Clark, development of railroads, the edge of the Industrial Revolution.... IN SPACE. I feel like there was a lot more potential here. The story itself ends up being pretty generic. I was expecting a transporter cliche to save the day with all the mention of it earlier, but they avoided that. I'm not sure what the freighter XO was thinking, luring them over into a trap to... kill them all? Was launching them in the pod the initial goal, were they shooting to miss? Mixed signals. It seems a little extreme, and did he really think Earth would let that happen, or that Enterprise wouldn't follow with its faster engine and better weapons? The Nasuicans seem to be let off the hook for their piracy pretty easily, too well. This show references its past episodes and builds on backstory quite a bit more than TOS or TNG did. This is definitely more TOS than TNG - the episode had some nice action scenes, both on the ground and in space. I absolutely loved the aesthetics of the cargo ship. I can still buy the progression to TOS from this point, honestly.

 

[Delta Vega]

Next up, "Twilight"
The Groundhog Day from hell, imagine having to live through the pain of that story every day?
Imagine having to tell it every day ?
The destruction of Earth at the start seemed to be taken a bit too easily in their stride, and I found it difficult trying to decipher what Phlox was doing when trying to cure Archer.
Bridge gets melted, ship gets destroyed, everyone killed except Archer who somehow prevails.
Cue timey wimey reset
Overall a poignant, sad and quite brilliant episode.

"North Star"
How the fuck can they have the time to swan about and play Cowboy when their on a crucial mission to find the Xindi weapon ?
There's a not so subtle critique on slavery and racial intolerance woven through the story regarding the Skags,
Not a favourite of mine, but Malcolm shooting T'Pol is one of those"little moments" we all love.
Meh

"Similitude"
Magnificent Trek, and a classic Enterprise story.
Phlox and Archer's ethics are questionable in the extreme, but this is all put down to the Expanse and "needs must"
Are there no other Engineers on Enterprise, why does the Science Officer have to effect repairs ?
There are so many ongoing moral dilemmas for Archer, Phlox and T'Pol to deal with as Sim grows into, well Trip.
Would a sentient being accept a fate like Sim so readily ?
He eventually questions why he has to die to save Trip, but his resistance was short lived and futile.
The timescale of his existence allied to the race against time with the magnetic particles was interesting and cleverly done.
His fate in the end was as sad as it was dreadful, imagine he could have survived ?
Imagine two Trips in Engineering
Interesting indeed.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Twilight and Similitude are both in my Top 5 ENT episodes list.

And well North Star, I happily suspended my disbelief about the Xindi war disconnect, and enjoyed it immensely.

 

[sekundant]

"North Star"
How the fuck can they have the time to swan about and play Cowboy when their on a crucial mission to find the Xindi weapon ?

I think there are some episodes at third season which are very loosely to do with Xindi arc, e.g. " Extinction" but "North Star" is not one of them.
Your planet is attacked, millions of people are killed and you "know" the next weapon is on the way, you are "the" hope of your planet, you are in a very dangerous, strange place and there is no hope for any help or no potential ally in sight. You still didn't find your enemy and more important than you have no clue about motivation of them, so far you don't have a tactical plan. You are desperate. Suddenly, you find a planet with human settler which does not make sense.
What would you think? My first thought would be they have to do something with attack, if they are not the reason. And my first reaction would be go there (better undercover) and check the situation. And this is what they/Archer do/does.

 

[Delta Vega]

Fair points, but they ascertain very quickly that this settlement, and others like it, are stagnant, stuck in the 1880s, yes they are human, but it's clear that these humans have no bearing on the success or failure of the mission.
They work it out that they have been abductees who have somehow swung the balance in their favour.
Set a marker, come back later.
There simply shouldn't have been time to fuck around here.
Archer has the weight of present day Earth on his shoulders, history can wait.

 

[lurok]

How can you not love this?

 

[Delta Vega]

"Carpenter Street"
When the Reptillian was on the phone to the Blood Bank guy, I thought "Wonder if he's on a monthly contract or PAYG?"
Or "What network is he on?"
Why did they go to Detroit, or even that time at all ?
Why not go back further in time and do the dirty work themselves, without the aid of a patsy,
Take a few abductees, obtain the blood samples and DNA makeup themselves
Make a cheeky wee Bio weapon and release it while the humans were in a less advanced state and totally oblivious to it all
How did the Xindi even sound this guy out, phone call doesn't really cut it for me, how could they contact him without exposing themselves (snigger) ?
Burger scene was good though, and the "Nice ray gun" scene
Why didn't the Xindi guy just smash the flask into the night air ?
Daniels. . . . . .Daniels
The more questions you ask of this, the more complicated it gets.
Timey wimey stuff pisses me off
But it was all too easy in the end, dead Xindis in the cargo bay, job done.
Not a favourite.

 

[Delta Vega]

"Chosen Realm"
An odiously nice alien, he just has to be a baddie, of course we already know from the prologue that he and his are baddies.
But why are Starship Captains so stupid ?
It's not just Archer, it seems to be a trait of Star Fleet.
So we ascertain that religious zealots are not solely property of Earth, before we know it, boooom, and the ship is taken over.
But the top zealot can't be all that clever or else he wouldn't have been easily scammed by the transporter switcheroo.
Poor old Trip is reduced to being a spare one in Engineering while Archer fights to regain control via a bit of divide and conquer.
Where is Major Hayes while Archer, Reed and the MACOs fight the religious nuts ?
The ending has a touch of "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" about it, this episode isn't the worst, nor is it one of the best either.

 

[Delta Vega]

Seems like I'm talking to myself but hey. . . .
"Proving Ground"
Andorians, they make an episode automatically better with their presence. Shran is one of Trek's great characters, and Molly Brink was looking hot as Tallos.
The viewing screen shot of Shran's antennae superimposed on Archer's head was genius.
We had an awkward alliance between the two crews, the compromise in Engineering being fun, with Reed and Tallos.
The Andorians are handy allies but are, as always, duplicitous, but what's not to like about Shran ?
Interesting interaction with Trip and Shran, seemed more of a plot to give Trinneer some dialogue, then we had the wonderful Andorian Mining Consortium skit.
Just brilliant.
Although weren't the Xindi aware of the Earth ship's Captain ?
Wasn't Archerite a very near giveaway ?
After some posturing and a bit of a skirmish Shran steals the test weapon for the Imperial Guards own purposes, gets a belt on the dish from Archer, and I'm surprised Archer never got ended by the Andorian Bridge Crew.
The Cat and Mouse games over the weapon in the last scenes was tense and well crafted, but the old blueskin's conscience got the better of him and he came good in the end with the telemetry.
A fine episode, no doubt about it.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

I'm reading! Sorry I haven't commented more. Very entertaining reviews with intriguing questions to ponder.

Totally agree with your take on Proving Ground. Any episode with Shran is gold. I could have happily watched Combs play Shran for the next 20 years. I really enjoyed the Archer-Shran love-hate relationship develop. Great stuff.

I am getting a lot out of your reviews. They remind me of why I love this show. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

 

[Delta Vega]

Thanks for your kind words, I kinda made a rod for my own back by doing a review from Season 3 onwards.
Because of the way I am, I'm going to have to give each episode the scrutiny in more and more detail.
I was watching two or three at once in the beginning then giving my thoughts, but my obsession has taken over so it's basically one at a time with longer summaries.
I love Enterprise and always try to champion it on the forum, it gets some unfair shit thrown at it so I thought I'd try and convert a few people.
I hasten to add, if I think an episode is bad, I'll say it, its not a puff piece exercise.

 

[sekundant]

Seems like I'm talking to myself but hey. . .

I am on the way, at weekend too and it won't be better for next two weeks. I will add some thoughts to your Chosen Realm review, when I have time. again.
Your reviews include always some news aspects and interesting questions, thank you for all the effort!

 

[Delta Vega]

And tonight we have. . . . . "Stratagem"
This episode has an interesting set up, but really, how believable could the scenario be ?
Would any sane person fall for this elaborate scam ?
Especially a highly intelligent, highly skilled operative like Degra ?
If I had been him I'd have been highly sceptical, and he was to the end.
I think the whole idea was clever but you have to wonder at the logistics of setting up something like this so quickly.
What with the fake shuttle, fake interfaces, fake technology, fake space outside the windows.
So many things that could have went wrong, wouldn't it have been easier just to beat the shit out of the the captive Xindi to get the desired information ?
Unethical maybe but Earth's future is at stake here.
The whole scam is a bit too easily set up, and having the morally questionable Phlox debating truth serums, memory erasing, Regulan bloodworms etc made for more mystique.
Here we have the first mention of Azati Prime, a warning for the future.
This episode emphasises the growing stature of Hoshi and Reed in their respective roles, while T'Pol remained, as ever, stoic.
Trip again was underused.
The Degra character is one of Enterprise's best, loyal, a brilliant weapons technician but has a conscience, he's conflicted, and forever wrestles with the thing he has done.
Archer can't be conflicted, he has to be focused for the sake of mankind.
Right on cue, the debris field destabilises the fake shuttle, the best laid plans and all that.
The second scam was even better than the first in the last five minutes of screen time,
Suspend belief completely in this episode and its a very good, but perhaps flawed, 43 minutes.
Season 3 is now beginning to soar.